Are Cover Letters Worth It? // Software Engineering Career Advice

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Today we're debunking whether Cover Letters actually help you get a Software Engineering job. I always thought they help supplement resumes in telling more of a story of who you are to a company and recruiter, but we find out that this might not be the case.
Thank you so much to my friend Tatiana for being in the video!
#CoverLetters #TechCareer
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Mayuko Inoue is a content creator and Software Engineer. After working in Silicon Valley tech companies like Intuit, Patreon, and Netflix for six years as an iOS Engineer, she became a full-time creator in 2020. Her work aims to help people find their way through the tech industry by sharing her own experiences navigating this world through technology, career advice, and lifestyle videos. She is passionate about discussions around mental health, cultural identity, and creating technology with empathy and compassion.
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[@ConTejasMusic]

As a comp sci student who's gonna graduate next year, I really needed this. I often felt like I was wasting my time writing a cover letter for all the summer job applications I did, so it's great to see an actual recruiter tell me it's not always necessary. Thanks again Mayuko, excellent videos as always ♥️

[@guest-cv5wj]

Just have a decent resume. Pay attention to how it's formatted, make sure there aren't any typos. If you have a github you're proud of post that (but make sure it represents what you're capable of, if it's something you threw together in a day it'd be better to leave off). If you're a new grad, it's probably best to keep your resume to about a page in length too. I'd recommend trying hired.com and finding recruiters in your area (if your college doesn't have good job placement resources). Recruiters from recruiting firms will tell you if it's important to have a cover letter. In software, the hiring company pays the recruiter, so you can use as many 3rd party places as you want, and the one who places you is the one who gets paid.

[@abrahamrhys6269]

I guess im asking the wrong place but does anyone know a way to log back into an Instagram account? I was dumb lost the login password. I would love any tricks you can offer me

[@philipbutler]

My undergrad CS club went on a tour of Google's office and one of their recruiters (at the time, she's actually at Facebook now) essentially said the same thing. Her words on cover letters: "Ain't nobody got time for that!"

[@philipbutler]

and thank you for your videos! After 10 months of applying to hundreds of companies and a handful of interviews, I got a call with a job offer for my first job as a software engineer!! ...Until a couple hours later they called me back explaining how their CEO froze all hiring due to covid19 until who knows when. So it's back to square one for me. Trying to stay positive and productive, wish me luck!

[@Itsdanielpeng]

This is only true for bigger companies. For smaller companies, a cover letter is more valuable.

[@ariez84]

I never wrote CL...and when a job requires it, i usually pass 😂. Tech jobs LITERALLY have 200 to 500 apps per post (check linkedin applied). There's no way (IMHO) recruiters would even glance at it. If they want to know you better the first 30 min phone screen is the way to impress them...not through a CL.

[@greatbullet7372]

you are a good human ;) keep it up

[@rachcastellino]

I loved the way you formatted this interview typa video. Most videos just have the edited interview with both screens and it just gets boring fast. I love love loooove how you integrate a talking head, text and colors! Holds attention spans of those with weak ones (aka me) so well. So inspiring 🥺

[@brootalbap]

I work in recruiting as well and can in general second Tatiana's assessment. A couple of things Tatiana doesn't mention: There's load of research on what selection procedures help organizations select the best candidate for the job. Of the many selection and assessment tools available, checking the cover letter is problematic for several reasons: Most importantly, it's time consuming to properly read, code, compare and evaluate coverletters when you have hundreds or thousands of applications for a position. So it's not a viable tool for preselection. Even if applications are limited (e.g. it's a small company outside of tech hot-spots) and you would have the time, the scientific evidence on how well coverletter information can predict job performance is rather bad as the process is hard to standardize and informations can usually not be reliabily and consistently interpreted correctly. Too many people boast, too many leave information out and you often can't compare coverletters very well hence their very different content and structure. That is problematic for standardized and structured hiring processes that hold up to more proper evalation of HR selection procedures. Here's the thing though: Many organizations have horrible selection procedures that do not adhere to quality standards or research evidence on good practices. Instead, there are CEOs or managers who believe that all they need to have to make the right decisions is their gut feeling. There are those CEOs and managers that believe that just talking 30 seconds with candidates is enough to know enough to know whether you are fit for the job or not. It's shown for decades that this is very wrong and very bad HR practice but that's how it is. And for those companies with horrible HR practices but perhaps good tech jobs you may want to write the cover letter. Because these places will place an unreasonable amount of importance on the wrong things.

[@SimGunther]

1:56 And remember kids, the word of the day is "spyware", as in, "hey, you know that Grammarly is spyware because they store every keystroke you've ever made on your computer and store it all in their 'secure' servers, right?"

[@nobytes2]

This is something similar without the spyware. samwsoftware.github.io/Projects/hemingway/

[@anjanette9853]

Thank for posting this mayuko! Very informative!

[@wattheshet]

I was a factory worker for almost 5 years when I moved to western country. I failed many times in interview until I gave up applying and decided to make a mobile application. That application is the bridge to where I am now. A mobile developer working on a company. One thing I realize is that every HR is bias. If you search IT interview you see a lot of opinion on what and what you should not do. This video caters to those who has experience already or students that recently graduated. But for majority of people who wants a break through in tech this won't do. For those people, here is my advice, work on yourself. Create apps that would sell or would have a good rating. A website to back it up or a blog about your learning progress. Aim for something big like have a business not aim to work for a company. Once you have your app or a website, this is the time where you can apply. You will be more confident this way and it won't matter if they reject you because you know you are aiming for something better. You have confident rather than acting desperate during interview. Being hired in a company is just the side effect of becoming better. No matter how cool your resume is if you can't show a product it is nothing.

[@kiwi8476]

This comment just reminded me and made me think a lot of Gary Vee. Love him! So real!

[@lostroad9475]

That's true, that's how I broke in

[@ShamirDasgupta]

Trax Morth Your comment is better than this video. 100% agree. That was my approach and it worked out beautifully.

[@wattheshet]

@@ShamirDasgupta Glad it worked out for you as well. Hard work always pays

[@user-vn5qg6fq5g]

Same man, I'm a self taught web developer that recently got his first job after ~2 years studying front and back end development (mainly front-end). I have suffered from imposter syndrome until I said fuck it a sunday night and started sending my resume that I was "preparing" for months. Here is some advice from my perspective, some of them for people who are just starting trying to get their first role in web development. While learning, I was creating lot of projects so I had material for my resume. Do the same. This is a very important part for 2 reasons. First, employers will see you can actually build real stuff and don't just follow tutorials. Second, when building stuff you will have to search for things you don't know, so you will learn more (also watch clement mihailescu's videos about projects, he givess some great advice.) Employers will hire someone who has something to offer them, through this, you can get value from them too by advancing your skills, commmunication, meet people that you will later start a company etc. Show your value in your resume through your skills, mindset or any way you can. Enthusiasm and willingness to learn is a big plus (but don't fake it). If you have any relative experience put it in your resume, if you don't try to get some through an internship or something, experience is a huge plus. Also you can try contributing to open source projects. Knowing or willingness to learn languages and tools around your expertise is a big plus. Employers DO NOT want people who are hard stuck to a role and will refuse to do things outside of their job description. If you have not done an interview before (like me), treat your first interviews as a learning experience, you might say something wrong on the first ones but that's okay. For the next ones think "Based on my previous intreview, I did this and this wrong" and not "I screwd up I will do it again". More interviews will come your way. If you are not getting interviews, you are doing something wrong. Pause and find what it is. It might be your strategy, not enough skills, too much or too little info. Find it and start again. Jobs in tech will not end. If you want any advice, someone to review your resume, your portfolio or whatever, send me a dm on twitter @qktweets :D

[@JaredRix]

This is definitely the most useful video so far Mayuko. Getting through the door has been one of my biggest struggles, and i have a folder full of tailored cover letters that I honestly dont even know if anyone other than me has read. Using my LinkedIn as an substitute for my cover letter is a tactic that should be common sense but I needed this video to realise. Thank you so much!!

[@readjordan2257]

Thanks for the video! Talking with aquaintances over the years that have also been recruiters in their work places ive found that anything is possible, some companies want aggressive applicants, others will absolutely turn them away. Most jobs want more than high school education, whereas my first job, that was a disqualifier, special training especially like tech school training for mechanical or heating and cooling systems were found at the company, but they cared about their methods so much that actual experts were disqualified. I feel this video gave me more insight. Thanks

[@Alan0IIIIIII0]

Hey, thanks a lot for sharing this info! Wish there were more people like you out there!

[@mfkman]

As someone who has interviewed hundreds of software developers, I would add it to the resume (as a second page). Often times, only the resumes get passed on to the hiring managers, but as a hiring manager, I would have really liked to see what many put into the cover letter. So if you include the cover letter in the uploaded PDF of the resume (or make it an "about me" section) I think it really helps.

[@kurmiakalnis]

You're the best, Mayuko! Thx so much, it's super helpful to know!

[@zss123456789]

*TLDR* - cover letters aren't that valued because they won't read it. - The resume should already tell your story for you. - If you care about value alignment with the company, that tends to happen more with startups. - Make sure you research the company well if it doesn't fit into traditional categories. - Recruiters rely on job platforms, make sure you show who you are through those platforms. - Recommendations from managers/professors can help! *Final* *Tip:* - Reach out to get an internal referral!! Literally the strongest way to get your foot inside the door. Note: different recruiters may have different views, so take this as a single data point.

[@kevincarr2334]

Clear and concise advice that will help me save time during the current job hunt. Thank you!

[@hankim394]

wow that was helpful. Think now I'll still continue to make cover letters but have them condensed. Resume will be prioritized to tell my story.

[@enrico8730]

Just pondering the same question these past few days ... vid came at the perfect time 👌🏻

[@petersifuentez6420]

Great video Mayuko, can't wait for more episodes on if/else

[@ahmedmohamoud2614]

Love your energy you are showing

[@oncueph_official]

Love watching your videos, after watching your leaving your job in netflix, I've seen a lot of your videos. It's so much informative! I also studied computer science, but end up being a radio dj / IT

[@adhikm1885]

This is TRUE! I work closely with recruiter as their job related to me so tight. Makesure your valid data put in the recruitment platform as recruiter easier to spot you! And in the paper, throw everything you've got in 1 page!! They don't have time to read your pages resume, NO TIME!

[@same__ee]

Thanks for the insights !

[@evancornish656]

my advice on cover letters: Any time spent writing them would be better spent improving your technical skills. I don't even apply to jobs that want cover letters as part of the application process. It takes a really long time to write a decent personalized cover letter and considering that it's usually not even read why bother?

[@wobsoriano]

Thanks Mayuko! Very helpful. Also, like the hair!

[@chin8062]

Thanks for this!

[@ramonhynson9336]

I think an interesting point was that startups care about if you are all in on their mission. The small company is trying to grow and try their best to find very like-minded others. I work at a Apple retail store and it still runs like a start up. They want to make sure you’re all in and believe in the Apple credo.

[@eile4219]

At the beginning, I always write cover letter. Now I stop writing it, I still get hire. I think Cover letter is good for new college graduate and people who have little or no experience.

[@kairoswave]

Great solid advice!

[@kenneth9343]

Mayuko you always make my day complete i love you.

[@helenbire7779]

This is true and thank you mayuko for inviting a professional for a great suggestion. Great idea and also cover letter should be simple that have full information about you that the company must know.

[@madukomablessed4712]

Hello Mayuko, great content. I hope to become a better programmer and person overall. Thanks for this content and continue to stay safe :)

[@shahabsalem7272]

Always thought this was the case to be honest, doubt a cover letter's going to be read unless they like your resume, and even then not guaranteed. Thanks for the great advice!

[@aybee9410]

First comment! Im happy to be subscribed to you since I'm going to pursue a degree in CS! Thanks for inspiring me to keep on going!

[@cryogendev1049]

Well thats good to know. Best ov luck 👍

[@laviz9162]

​@@cryogendev1049 kzbin.info/www/bejne/nHuumKt4lLaoj5o

[@cistusladanifer2877]

@@laviz9162 👊💪✌️

[@wallstreetengineer]

Good luck Arien👍🏼

[@cadhlakai]

I very very very needed this advice. I've been getting turned down for four months...

[@strongcurves7099]

Love your necklace! Been looking for one like it, would you mind letting me know where you got it from? ☺️😊

[@JustMorals]

I like the transition into grammarly. seemless and works with this topic.

[@influence944]

Now I would love to see your CV or a recommended template on which it is based :D

[@TravisGarnett]

Thank-you for #THIS, mayuko and Tatiana. 👏🙂

[@minhquando100]

Yeah I learned this lesson multiple times already lol. The best cover letter is no cover letter, when in doubt, go back and fix your resume.

[@josephkim4723]

@Mayuko thanks for the informative video. In your research, were you able to find if there was any discrimination based on whether a cover letter was submitted or not? This probably has been my biggest question regarding this topic in my own experience.

[@josephcampbell3718]

Now that I think about it a lot of employers receive tons of applications everyday and they’re not gonna read every single cover letter. They mostly care about what’s in your resume and that lets them know if your a good fit for the job or not.

[@zachs7080]

100% agree. I am a recruiter at FAANG and I look at your resume for 6 seconds before moving to the next one.

[@wijayaerick]

I agree that cover letter is generally not necessary in the tech industry However, I still encourage myself to write at least one cover letter. It is not about whether companies care or not with my cover letter. By writing one, it will force me to understand who I am so that I can convey my story if being asked by the recruiter/interviewer

[@jewel22100]

Great video as always) I have a small question. What college did you finish?

[@johnalexandersangkoy6860]

Great video I love it

[@i.k.wardani]

yes, i use grammarly too, very helpfull thankyou grammarly, thankyou mayuko, thankyou youtube

[@introversado7599]

Mayuko thanks for the advice, btw you look very handsome today. Also your camera lost focus around 3:46, maybe autofocus failed?

[@rodneyseay9242]

My industry is a lot different. I work in the Department of Defense and no one cares about your hobbies and values. They also don’t care about CV’s either. Can you do the job? Hired.

[@markoshivapavlovic4976]

Its not all about the pitching it depend do you want to sell yourself or you want to keep some individuality. I do try to not oversell myself in resume or in cover letter so I usually write a nice cover letter only if the job is interesting to me. If its not I sometime write some general thing or just skip it.

[@itsrasterize8898]

Hello mayuko! Iam a fresh information technology graduate but i dont have work for now its been nearly 1 yr after my graduation. I dont have the confidence of my skills/knowledge. To be honest i did not focus on my programming subjects so now i been reviewing my books in college. I want to apply for these positions front end dev/soft engineer and ui/ux. Just sharing what i want to do! **sorry for the grammar!**

[@slackstation]

lol, as someone who's worked in software engineering roles in startups and large well-known firms interviewing for engineering roles for over a decade, I don't think I've seen a cover letter for anyone that wasn't an intern or straight out of college. Literally can count them on one hand given the literal hundreds of interviews I've done. And they were never a big factor in what swayed us. It was the technical ability and team fit, that's it.

[@tasheemhargrove9650]

What do you think about recruiters, though? How much money do they take from your checks if are the source of your hiring? And do you think that it's better to avoid recruiters? I'm use to dealing with temp agencies and that's what recruiters remind me of. As a person who isn't in the tech industry yet, I try to avoid temp agencies and get hired onto a company directly if I can. I was planning to take the same approach with recruiters after I finish my CS degree. But many people seem to accept recruiters in the tech industry, which is leading me to believe they probably aren't similar to temp agencies.

[@lfernandorg]

In two situations, I used an email as my cover letter and work well for me, I got hired in both cases, but my case happened in Brazil I don't know if work out in the US,

[@wolfkidex]

I wonder how much of this is dependent on size of the company; and also what's common location (ie. Silicon Vally vs elsewhere)

[@thewizardnet]

I have one question:) How you actually learned IOS development? Did you use some online platforms or books or something else?

[@Rudrazz]

Awesome content and awesome hair

[@wallstreetengineer]

Me *stresses about cover letter* Mayuko *releases video about making a cover letter* Me *stops stressing*

[@omkarsawant7933]

Hi Mayuko can you make a video about career path for an ios developer in the long term and how does it varies from other devops

[@vishwanathvt7701]

I am sending my resume, cover letter and applying to many companies. But didn't get a single interview opportunity. Once I got a call and they asked me about my experience and told they will send an email for interview schedule. And I am waiting since 1 year didn't get mail. I think something is wrong with my mail box🤣🤣. No something is wrong with me. Yeah.

[@LeonardoDias-te2gg]

I can recommend Grammarly! As a non-native English speaker, the browser extension helps me a lot every day.

[@sanmacorz]

What's her wallpaper? I need it!

[@markoshivapavlovic4976]

Great video.

[@papachoudhary5482]

Thanks! Madam How do do? In this lockdown Kindly make vdo on POWERBI recruiting

[@dylanl9532]

I get way more responses when I don't write cover letter

[@lynyrdrossalquiroz2029]

Can you show us a sample cover letter of your own Mayuko? Stay safe and happy everyone during these challenging times.

[@hankim394]

yassss new video

[@emilmartinov]

Classic, every recruiter says something different. It depends on the recruiter, so apply, apply, apply. Recruitment industry is broken, so do not think too much about it, focus on your skills and build stuff.

[@ahmedkamal4390]

Hi mayuko, have you ever faced programmers block? If so, how do you get over it even if the rubber duck technique doesn't works 😁

[@austinkim7804]

Thanks for saving me the time in writing a cover letter. I really didn't want to do it.

[@ramsesayala4713]

Good video , greetings from México

[@letslearncomputerprogramming]

Please display the format

[@luisnicolasrivas]

Coo coo coo but how do I get my first internship ever with absolutely no work experience at all? Literally nothing

[@goJesusandStarcraft]

Luis Nicolas Rivas I was in that position a couple years ago. Assuming you’re a student, keep up your grades. If you’re doing research or working on any other coding projects, you can put that on your resume. Apply to as many places as you possibly can. Honestly, I think the most importnt thing is have one project on your resume that you worked extensively on that you can explain in detail for any interview, and practice lots of leetcode.

[@leilei1129]

Thank you

[@SavageScientist]

Coverletters, //Sponsored By Gramarly LOL I got hired by IBM with no coverletter so i do agree. Its all about your skills***

[@raba650]

How can this apply for your first dev job?

[@H4KnSL4K]

I think of myself as knowing grammar well enough not to need such a tool. Of course, it doesn't hurt to get a double-check.. But really, so many *other people* could benefit from using grammarly!

[@bigWordsHurt47]

Good video :)

[@ismailadan418]

Although Im only in high school, I want to pursue a degree in CS so any tips on how to prepare for it?

[@unluck7]

Same here If u get any tips share with me too bro ^^

[@walkieer]

Pay attention in math class and maybe start coding. Just my 2 cents.

[@JohnFarrellDev]

Honestly just start learning a language and then start building projects, that will put you miles ahead of most people.

[@aitorjara100]

Exactly as Walkier says paying attention to maths and having some basic coding skills will set you up for that degree. PS: I'm not an engineer but I work as an AI developer

[@Vidaric1]

Start now. CS material is mostly stuff that clicks, and you can tell who's good and who isn't fairly easily. If you start now and give the material time to settle in your head you'll be miles ahead of everyone.

[@mvn3949]

I don't like to write cover letters, i don't like the whole idea of job "interview" rounds, i feel as if i am begging for a job. I have a personal principle, never beg, i will die hungry but will never beg so bring it on. Imagine if i had a magic cure for cancer, corona, ebola, hiv, etc no one would be "interviewing" me , it they want to be cured, they will accept it. I believe in skills, skills matter. This attitude has helped me make many respectable connections and in the past 10 years i have never had career problems, always got a job through referrals because they believe in my skills. I even survived multiple rounds of lay offs in two companies. Learn as much as you can, play monopoly, own so many responsibilities in a company that you create a dependency on you and they can't give you a pink slip. Learn and accept responsibilities outside of your actual job description. Keep learning, keep growing, believe in yourself, sure you want a job but making them want you is even better.

[@dolphinwhale6210]

can you do a video on how to be a recruiter

[@phoso1]

Once you have the experiences that you need, worst career move anyone can do is to continue work for someone. Mayuko, good luck on your new path to entrepreneurship.

[@dirtstyles]

I've yet to work in a development team where anyone reads cover letters :D

[@manojtolagekar6717]

How u were doing practice to become software Engineer Please rply

[@WhiteGhost13]

This was helpful cuz I spend sooo much time on writing cover letters 😭😭 and now I know not to

[@jj1bdx]

Grammarly is a must for me to write better academic papers, better cover letters, and better tweets. (No endorsement from the company, I'm paying for Grammarly Premium solely by myself for my business.) If you have difficulties writing English, Grammarly is worth paying for. Especially if you want a good job offer, and if English is not your first language (like me).

[@JabiJlonso]

bamboozle from mayuko, grammarly is already giving 20% off, thought this would stack D:

[@danreed1105]

Japanese language avoids stating a subject, and is often translated to English in the passive. Just wondering if that has anything to do with it...

[@companymen42]

I never write cover letters, UNLESS, I have a direct email to the recruiter, hiring engineer or a [e-mail] and I know there is a decent probability they’ll read it. If it’s a general application like for intel or amazon or google, nah, I don’t see the point. Also, if you the email address of the person interviewing you or the recruiter, at the end of the interview, ALWAYS send a thank you. It shouldn’t be long, just something along the lines of thanking them for the interview and their time. It’s old fashion, but it leaves a good impression.

[@JerryPster]

so it's who you know not what you know. I guess its time to brush up on my networking skills, but not routers and switches.

[@sheharzadsalahuddin80]

I want to talk to you about important letters and cover letters.

[@security_prince]

I feel cover letters are a good thing to make it easy for the recruiters to shortlist candidates where you can basically point on the highlights of what you have done which can be useful for the role that you are applying for.

[@hardikgulati7681]

Love your long hair! Real Japanese women never cut their hair. 😍

[@alexr3d]

recruiters .... :)) one recently sent me an email where SWITCH knowledge was necessary.

[@bArda26]

I too agree that cover letters are useless time consuming paragraphs. I also think that HR should quit doing the initial screening and AI should take it over for initial screening because of their biases and so on

[@limitless.discomfort]

Arigato gozai massu Mayuko Chan .

[@srijanpandey1605]

yaulll!!

[@carterfang95]

Enjoyed the video Mayuko! Not sure about adopting Grammarly though.. apparently there's the strong potential for data abuse given their policies

[@raygrant9673]

Wait let me get my glasses 👓... nevermind

[@user-yy3qb3ib7k]

大好きです😂